Sweden’s Childcare Policy Highlights the Importance of Grandparents

Published 28 October 2024

Author
Nienke Creemers
2 min read

As childcare costs soar globally, grandparents are increasingly an essential part of the child-rearing support network. As a response, Sweden has broadened its parental leave policy to compensate grandparents for childcare. It’s a choice that speaks to both personal and financial sacrifices grandparents make for their grandkids – and one that reflects widespread issues.

  • Sweden’s Grandparental Leave: In July 2024, Sweden expanded its parental leave to allow new parents to transfer up to 90 days of paid childcare to their kids’ grandparents (or friends and family) from their 480-day allowance (which can be taken any time before the child is 12). Couples can reallocate 45 days, and single parents get 90 days to share. This third (or second) carer will receive income compensation, regardless of their employment or retirement status.

  • Global Grandparents Take on Childcare Duties: With parents increasingly overwhelmed – the US Surgeon General issued an advisory on parents’ poor mental health in August 2024 – grandparents are stepping up. In the UK, 52% of grandparents provide childcare during the working week (SunLife, 2023). In the Netherlands, 60% of grandparents regularly babysit (De Volkskrant, 2023). In Spain, 35% of people over 65 take care of their grandkids several days a week (La Vanguardia, 2024). And in the US, 42% of working parents rely on grandmothers for childcare (The Harris Poll, 2023).

  • The Cost of Care: Grandparents taking a larger role in looking after their grandkids comes with a greater financial impact. British grandparents spend up to £80 ($104) a week on caring for their grandchildren, but 12% of them say they can’t afford the related expenses (SunLife, 2023). While some companies in the UK and elsewhere now offer post-birth leave for grandparents, there’s a need for a broader conversation on the pressures childcare may place on grandparents.

 

For more on childcare from a parent’s perspective, see Meet the Gen Z Parents.